Are These the Same Women?

December 5th, 2005

Are These the Same Women?

I was reading the latest issue of Wired and noticed a peculiar thing. About 20 pages apart from one another, there were two ads which appeared to feature the same women. They’re both full page ads, one for the American Postal Service and a second one for Intel.

I asked around, and most men thought they were the same, while most women thought they were different. Personally, I think I’ve got borderline prosopagnosia, so I’m a lousy judge. What do you think?

I’ll post thumbnails below, but you can click on the close-ups for larger versions:

Even if they’re not the same women, there’s a fairly uncanny resemblance. Did the same ad firm do the ads? What is it about slightly brainy-looking redheads in cardigans? They’re both very Allison Hannigan.

On a related note, Travis pointed me to this story of one model’s extensive ad work.

Comments: 14 Responses so far

Branedy
December 6th, 2005
2:07 am

Interesting, and both are cute, but the girls are correct, they are different women.

I think the term is ‘type casting’ for an explanation of the resemblance.

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Stephen Duncan Jr
December 6th, 2005
3:10 am

I think they are different people, though only because I looked closely, prepared fo controversy; I’d have assumed the were the same person without warning.

And it’s Alyson, not Allison! :)

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tijo
December 6th, 2005
4:17 am

Different - A closer look at their jaw lines should convince you.

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Jordan
December 6th, 2005
6:07 am

Definitely different.

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Tom
December 6th, 2005
9:24 am

Male Opinion - Different Women.. Their hair looks slightly different..

Don’t you have anything better to do??

Then again, I’m readying your blog and posting a comment so I don’t..

Keep up the good work.. ;)

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Anonymous
December 6th, 2005
12:02 pm

I think they’re the same woman. About two years ago, there was a big brouhaha when Intel and some other big computer company (Dell?) debuted “back to school” ads that had the same model. Anyone remember this?

I recently noticed that the woman from the “toast or buns” commercial is now in an Old El Paso commercial. Same woman, different family.

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Derek
December 6th, 2005
12:28 pm

Their noses and chins appear different, and while it’s harder to tell because only one is smiling, it seems their lips are too. They’re wearing similar glasses, though. :)

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karen
December 6th, 2005
2:23 pm

No opinion, but her name is Alyson Hannigan. The link is the right, link text is a bit off.

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male 30-35
December 6th, 2005
3:35 pm

Different models. The texture of their hair is noticable different.

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NetChick
December 6th, 2005
3:38 pm

Definitely different women… The chin on one of them is noticably different than on the other… The hair is also quite different, and so is the eyebrows.

Similar though!

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Kennedy
December 7th, 2005
11:33 am

“The hair is different.”

Seriously? You honestly think you can tell by the hair? Has anyone ever seen a wig? Hair extensions? Crimpers, curlers, scissors?

But yes, the noses do tell the tale. They are two different women. One has almost no nose crease, the other quite defined.

And if that doesn’t convince you, the difference in the glasses should close the book.

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